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Strong Women: Empress Wu Zetian
The Official Imperial Portrait of Tang Dynasty's Empresses (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
There is a lot of conflicting information about Empress Wu Zetian, China’s only Empress Regnant. Not only was her reign many centuries ago (circa 600 CE), but the Confucian belief system prevalent at the time was very much against the whole idea of a female ruler. It is difficult to tell which of the many traits ascribed to her, and the many accusations levelled at her, are true.
This much seems clear: born around 624 to noble parents, Wu Zetian was a smart girl who reportedly disdained needlework in favour of spending more time reading and learning about Chinese history and art. At age 14, she was made a concubine to Emperor Taizong, and remained one until age 26, when the emperor died. That might have been the end of the story; typically, concubines who were no longer needed were sent to monasteries to live out the rest of their days as Buddhist nuns. However, depending on who you believe, Wu Zetian either subsequently caught the eye of Taizong’s son Gaozong, had been having an affair with Gaozong all along, or was summoned back to the palace by Empress Wang to distract Gaozong from another consort.
More intrigue ensued. Quickly becoming the emperor’s favourite, she gave birth to the sons he had wanted. Again, depending on the account, Wu Zetian then either had Empress Wang deposed by accusing her of killing Wu’s newborn daughter or by accusing Wang and another consort of witchcraft. One way or the other, Wu Zetian became Empress by marrying Gaozong.
Gaozong suffered a stroke five years after they married, and Wu Zetian effectively took over the role of Emperor. She is said to have maintained a secret police force to spy on and eliminate or thwart her enemies. She also outmaneuvered her sons to retain power when Gaozong died; outflanking the older ones and putting the youngest, most weak-willed one on the throne. Eventually, he removed himself from power altogether in 690, and Wu Zetian was declared emperor.
Court machinations aside (and there were many, many more that I haven’t gone into here), Wu Zetian also had to contend with trouble on China’s borders, problems within the bureaucracy (she put more emphasis on exams to loosen the hold of aristocratic families on government), and religious issues. Her reign is sometimes credited with elevating the status of Buddhism over Daoism, fairness to the peasants, strengthening public works, and an increase in art and culture in China in general.
The Lesson
Kinder accounts of Wu Zetian’s reign have grudgingly suggested that she was a good ruler, even while excoriating the methods by which she is supposed to have gained and retained power. Less charitable descriptions concentrate on “how great her viciousness and vile nature was.” Even today, she inspires book titles like: Wu: The Chinese Empress Who Schemed, Seduced and Murdered Her Way to Become a Living God.
What was her true character? We may never know. Certainly, the imperial court at any period in ancient Chinese history was no place for wimps, and she may well have done many of the things attributed to her. But then again, history is full of examples of ruthless male leaders who obtain power by scheming, seducing, and murdering their way to the top. Why is the historical focus on Wu Zetian’s life on that, and not the results of her reign?
Today’s women may recognize the modern equivalent: that perception that strong men are aggressive, while strong women are bitches.
What should we make of all this? Two things: One, it’s important to take any description of someone else’s life with a grain of salt, and to consider the potential agenda (or influences) of the person writing it. Two, if you go out and make a name for yourself, be prepared to get called some names too. Some might be accurate, but others may be wildly untrue and unfair.
Get used to it.
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When the exception becomes the rule
It never stops. (Credit: Wikipedia)
Do any of these sound familiar?
If we can finish project X, we’ll be able to do project Y
Once we get past this issue, we can deal with…
It is so very easy, as a business owner, organizational leader, spouse, or a mother, to get caught up in the day-to-day. At the office, there is always something requiring your immediate and undivided attention. At home, just keeping back the jungle is a full-time job: if it’s not the lawn that needs cutting, it’s the laundry that needs folding. If you have entered your “chauffeur years,” your children’s activities will easily wipe 2-3 evenings a week out of your schedule. And then there’s volunteer work…
This weekend and next weekend are crazy, but after that…
Here’s the thing: the merry-go-round doesn’t stop. Ever. You have to step off. Otherwise, you’ll find that you’re always straining toward your goals, but never actually getting any closer. You’ll be running faster and faster to stay in the same spot.
This requires a big block of time to do properly, so not right now, but…
Let me put it another way: those circumstances you’ve been thinking of as being exceptional, aren’t. They have become the rule. And unless you recognize that, and further, make a habit of doing so regularly, before you know it, weeks, months, or even years will have flown by, and you’ll be no further ahead.
When should you step off the merry-go-round? Since you’ve taken five minutes out to read this far, now is as good a time as any. Stop, right now, and get out a pad and pen. What big (or even little) things have you been just not getting to?
At the office, what major system overhaul have you not been able to do because the problems it would fix keep getting in the way? What key staffer should you MAKE time to hire because doing so would finally allow you to breathe? Is there some funding opportunity that you haven’t taken the time to investigate, but that would really loosen the purse strings, if only…?
On the personal side, is there a relationship you haven’t been investing in because you’re both (presumed!) to be too busy? Is there a trip you’ve always wanted to take? A house renovation that would finally allow you to walk past the offending carpet/broken step/overgrown garden without cringing? Or perhaps its as simple as taking the time to play that video game with your kids they’ve been bugging you about.
Got them written down? Good. Now, shut off the email, close the browser, politely tell your staff to go away, close your door, take the phone off the hook… or even better, get in your car and go somewhere where you won’t be disturbed. Pick something and deal with it.
Right now.
And when you’re done… the minute you’re done… set aside a whole day next week to do the same thing. Actually write it into your calendar. And again the week after that. And so on.
Yes, things will back up on those days. But you’ll be surprised by how many issues were actually self-resolving, and how many things you can resolve in the medium-term by getting out in front of them.
And better yet, both you and your business will be much better off as a result.
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Enough gushing already!
This is what it's like to run a business, right?
I’m all for encouraging people and providing positive reinforcement. However, at the risk of sounding crabby, I must confess that I’ve been resisting the urge to roll my eyes at some of the all-women business events I’ve attended lately.
That’s because the speakers and presenters are forever introducing each other thus:
“This incredible woman put together…”
“I would like to you to meet the fabulously incomparable…”
“In an tremendous move, this awesome lady managed to…”
And so on, and so forth. Indeed, at one event I counted something like 15 uses of the word “amazing” in roughly ten minutes.
Barf.
Am I jealous? No, because I’ve been introduced as a guest speaker with the same number of adjectives myself. Yay, me. So what’s the problem?
Quite apart from my bias against superlative abuse, the first issue is that the attitude appears to be one of surprise and astonishment. Gosh, look at the cool things we women folk are getting up to these days!
Bulletin: it’s not 1950 any more. It’s 2012. The fact that many women can and do run their own businesses, and that furthermore some of us are damn good at it, shouldn’t be a revelation at this point. Especially in North America, and especially when it’s a bunch of us talking amongst ourselves. A woman in charge of something isn’t remarkable and this is a good thing.
The second issue is that pouring accolades on each other in such a manner rings hollow. It seems false, insincere, and here’s the key point: it smacks of an underlying insecurity. It’s like when the proverbial used car salesman tells you that he’s an honest guy: you’re immediately on your guard, wondering why he felt compelled to reassure you about his honesty.
In fact, I wonder how much our tendency to pile on the praise feeds into the so-called imposter syndrome. Although not recognized as an actual, diagnosable condition, the phrase was coined in the late 1970s, and has been used off and on in pop psychology for years. It’s the tendency for someone (and usually it’s women being discussed) to be outwardly successful, and yet inwardly feel unworthy; a fraud who ‘just got lucky.’ The term is gaining traction again, with the Daily Mail, Science Careers, and Forbes bringing it up just in the last few weeks alone.
The thing is, running a business (or any organization) is a bit like riding a roller coaster, especially in the early stages. You get these occasional peaks where everything seems to be working right, but the rest of the time you feel like you’re being flung in all directions, and it is as much as you can do not to lose your lunch. A huge order might get screwed up, a key staffer might suddenly decide to move on, or a currency shift might blow your next six month’s projections out of the water. That’s normal.
But if you go to one of these conferences and get called amazing, astonishing, smart, fabulous, and awesome, and yet know that back home there are six fires that need putting out like, NOW, or that you only just scraped by for your first three years… it’s easy to feel like a fraud. Or at the very least that you might be in the wrong room, because clearly all of these other women have got it together and are way more amazing than you.
It’s time to start talking to each other about our accomplishments — and our failures and near misses — in an honest and sincere manner. More importantly, let’s talk about these things in a matter-of-fact way, without all the gushing. Only then will we be able to find true inspiration, rather than being demoralized, and be able to help each other through the rough patches.
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Strong Women: Hatshepsut, the female king
One of many Hatshepsut statues
The Story
By the time Hatshepsut arrived on the scene, probably around 1508 BCE, the kingdom of Egypt was in decline once again. The oldest daughter of Thutmose (an Egyptian general) and Queen Ahmose, Hatshepsut was second in line to the throne behind Thutmose II, the general’s son with another queen. As Egyptian royal families were not too knowledgeable about genetics (and the problems caused by marrying close relatives), custom dictated that Thutmose II and Hatshepsut had to be married. As if all of this weren’t annoying enough, when Thutmose II died, the throne was passed over her to a son (Thutmose III) that Thutmose II had with another wife.
Lucky for Hatshepsut, Thutmose III was just a boy when he inherited his position, so she was able to reign as regent. For a while, she followed convention with respect to her role as “temporary” pharaoh. However, not long into her reign, it became apparent that she wasn’t going to give up the role willingly, and she found ways to keep Thutmose out of the picture. By her seventh year in power, she was widely acknowledged as the king of Egypt.
Yes, king. There was still the minor problem that Hatshepsut was female, and women weren’t supposed to be rulers. Hatshepsut dealt with this by dressing as, and depicting herself as a man, false beard and all. And it appears that while everyone actually knew she was female, they liked her ruling style well enough that they were willing to go along with the charade. Look, I didn’t say royalty made a lot of sense.
Hatshepsut would spend her reign building like crazy — hundreds of building projects, statues by the dozens, many huge obelisks, and several beautiful gardens. Thanks to her patronage, architecture made many advances during this period. She is also famous for restoring many of the trade routes that had been destroyed when the Hyksos had ruled Egypt, and for importing live myrrh trees to be planted in Egypt. She may also have lead some successful military campaigns. Time estimates vary, but her reign is generally believed to have been more than twenty years.
The Lesson
Hatshepsut overcame the biggest problem in her life with good marketing. Initially, official depictions of Hatshepsut showed female anatomy and male clothing; later depictions dispensed with the female aspect altogether. She was also really, really good at self-promotion. So good, in fact, that the Metropolitan Museum has an entire gallery dedicated to Hatshepsut swag. This is probably just as well: apparently Thutmose III devoted at least part of his reign to trying to erase all records of her reign by doing things like chiselling images of her face off stone walls.
Hatshepsut also walked the talk; she wasn’t all show. Given the sheer scale and cost of her building projects, clearly she was both a good administrator, and clever with the finances. While we have yet to find an account of her death, it appears from her mummy that she died of natural causes, and not something like an assassination or death by popular uprising.
Further Reading
Hatchepsut: The Female Pharaoh
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How I Boosted my Business Using Expensive, Copyrighted Material I Obtained for Free
Vancouver Public Library. Things have changed just a little.
Like any other business owner, I spend a lot of time reading and searching for tools. I’m always on the lookout for tactics, tutorials, and strategies that I can use to improve my bottom line.
But because I’m a business owner, I’m also a cheapskate and a skeptic. I really don’t like shelling out money if I don’t have to, especially if I’m not sure the latest pro tip being marketed as a silver bullet will be any good.
So I’ve found a way to check out all of the latest and greatest business advice for free. And no, I’m not talking Pirate Bay. It’s all completely legal.
It’s at my local library.
Oh yeah, that place.
In this era of Google and ubiquitous computing devices like the iPad, when information is always just a click away, it is perhaps all too easy to forget about the library system. And maybe you imagine your library as it once was … a quiet, possibly fusty place, full of ‘dead tree’ media.
But like everything else, libraries around the world have transformed themselves, or are in the midst of doing so. They are now places where you can grab a decent cappuccino, test-drive a Kindle, and download a digital copy of George R. R. Martin’s latest. You can take out movies, or get training on how to use the latest version of Windows. More to the point, they’re also a place where trained experts can help you actually make sense of Google’s 34,087,748 results for a search on nutrition advice.
And in the raging debate about content, intellectual property, and copyright, libraries are the answer that has always been there. It’s a place where knowledge and information is free – free as in beer – and where the creators are still being compensated for their efforts.
They are also increasingly becoming community hubs, places where we can address that other issue of the 21st century: the lack of connection with real people in real time. You can take a class, join a book club, or just hang out in the café and people-watch.
So the next time you need advice for any aspect of your life, business or otherwise, you might want to check out what your local library has to offer. You may be surprised.
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All About Y: Are You Getting Along With Your Millennials?
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I’ve been to quite a few business conferences lately, and it seems like everywhere I go, eventually the dreaded m-word comes up – millennials – and what to do with them.
In case you’re not familiar with the term, it’s designed to refer to employees born between 1980 and 2000, or roughly speaking, anyone now in their 20s. The usual complaints are that millennials are self-centered, entitled, and have no concept of things like ‘working your way up.’ As usual, Dilbert has this pithy summary.
Pundits would have you believe that workplace problems centered around millennials are actually the fault of baby boomers, who just aren’t hip enough to deal with the new paradigm. The media has plenty of articles about the management of millennials; and recent books on the topic suggest that if boomers would just get with it, culturally and technologically, they’d get great things out of their younger staff. Play by the new rules, be patient, mentor your youngsters, and magic will happen.
The conversations I’ve had recently, though, suggest that it’s not that cut and dried. The people I hear muttering the most about 20-somethings are in their 30s and early 40s, and so aren’t baby boomers. They’re also quite capable, technologically, and so that doesn’t seem to be a problem either. There may also be a problem with mainstream media confusing the entrepreneurial young Turks in start-ups (where we do see great things) with the 20-year-olds who become employees.
So I’m curious … all of you out there in the trenches … are you following the advice being dispensed and getting fabulous results out of your 20-somethings? Are you banging your head against a wall? Are you a millennial who is tired of being told what a slacker you are? —What do you perceive to be the problem(s) and solution(s)? Post a comment below!
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6 Lessons on Business from Star Trek: Voyager’s Captain Janeway
Where no *woman* had gone before
It’s never a bad idea to look to fiction for inspiration about leadership, because fictional characters quite often represent our ideals. Even if you’re not a science fiction fan, sci-fi heroes are excellent role models, because they deal with the same thing you do: the unknown.
No where is that more true than in the Star Trek universe. The captains in each of the series each had very distinctive leadership styles, and met the challenges they encountered in different ways. And while much has been said about the male captains, very little has ever been done about Captain Kathryn Janeway, the only female captain to date. So without further ado, here’s six lessons you can learn from a kick-ass leader.
1. Stop being their mother! Perhaps unsurprisingly, the writers of Star Trek: Voyager didn’t quite know how to handle a strong female leader. For the first part of the series, she kept vacillating between being all maternal, weepy, and mushy, and being captain. It took them three seasons for the writers to get it right: Janeway was not their mom. And neither are you. It’s one thing to care about your staff, it’s another to consciously or unconsciously make decisions about staff performance based on your maternal instincts. Being too nice could be holding you back.
2. Get a good 2IC. While the buck stops with you, it doesn’t hurt to have a second-in-command (2IC) who will check your assumptions when they need it and who can shoulder some of the burden — especially the legwork. Janeway had the extremely logical (and loyal) Tuvok on her side, and he was able to give her solid, objective advice when she wanted a gut check.
3. Take time off. No, really off. This one still tends to be tougher for women than for men, because statistics show a lot of us still bear the bulk of the home burden as well. But here it is: you need a chunk of time off every week where you do something that is completely unrelated to work and family. And stop feeling guilty about it. Janeway, even though she was guiding a whole crew of people through treacherous space, regularly did time on the holodeck (think really awesome 3D TV). You need to escape too. Your business and family will be better for it.
4. Don’t give up. Business can be such a roller coaster, can’t it? One day, you’re breaking all time revenue records, and the next day it seems every customer you have hates your guts. Or the office drama meter has just dialed up. Or both. Hang in there. Janeway’s mission was to take her crew back home but the catch was that it was going to be a 75-year journey (long story, literally). She had plenty of reasons to throw in the towel. She never did.
5. Shortcuts aren’t cheating. That said, there’s no reason you have to do it the hard way all the time. Always be on the lookout for faster, better ways to get things done. (That time off I mentioned above? It’s crucial for being able to see ways to do this clearly). Janeway took every opportunity she got to speed things up and as a result she got her crew home in seven years, not 75.
6. Demand more and state your expectations clearly. When Janeway learned that three crew members weren’t up to spec, she took them on an away mission; they ended up being attacked by (what else?) aliens, but fortunately, the crew members rose to the occasion. While I’m hoping that aliens aren’t a factor in your business, you also need to set firm deadlines, and clearly outlined deliverables and expectations for your staff. They can’t reach if you don’t show them where the goal is.
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